Probably when your doctor says it's okay. I think it was about 6 weeks for mine, I probably started climbing easy around 5 weeks. Besides the complications involved with surgery (infection, etc.) there is some risk of discomfort/pain. I've had both sides done. The first one had no issues. The second one started to cause some pain after a couple of years. It lasted for about two months or so and then went away. From what I've been told, for some people it can be fairly severe and permanent, requiring further surgical correction.

thank you for the reply. just had a vist with the doc- he explained more about the operation and went on to say that he used tacks or screws to keep the mesh in place over the weak area of the stomach lining. he also went to to say that it was ok for me to resume climbing and so forth. woohoo!

My first one was 14 years ago, my second (other side) was 6-7 years ago. I have no noticeable complications or issues with either at this point. I'm climbing harder than I was prior to either of the surgeries and if anything is holding me back it isn't that.

Be optimistic..a good friend of mine had inguinal hernia surgery (just 1 side) at end of Feb 2014. He rested completely for 2 weeks- no climbing, no sports/workouts of any kind. By week 3, started climbing < 1 hr per day, at grades easy for him. One month post surgery he was up to his pre-surgery grades. He wore a hernia belt for first couple of weeks; it helped with occasional pressure to groin during belaying.